Preview: Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes

Many of you may know that I was an extremely avid collector of Disney Infinity 1. Whilst I didn’t spend an obscenely huge amount playing with the Toy Box or collecting everything in the play sets, I managed to buy everything that there was to buy.

When Disney Infinity 2.0 was announced, I wasn’t hugely excited initially due to the fact that I’m not the biggest Marvel fan. However, once some of my favourite Disney classics were announced anticipation started to build. Thankfully, last week I got to sit down with Avalanche and Disney Infinity Producer, John Day. I spent an hour and a half for the second successive year watching John walk me through all the interesting facets of Disney Infinity. Once I quickly realised just how improved the gameplay was, it instantly drew me back in.

Initially he spent some time showing me through the Guardians of the Galaxy play set. The first thing that I noticed was just how beautiful the game looked on PS4. The first game was always vibrant but lacked that certain level of Disney polish in the graphics department. I’m happy to report that Disney Infinity 2 looks as good as you’d expect from the latest Disney film.
?Not only do the in-game graphics seem to have been improved, it’s apparent to me that the art department have also aimed to put a lot more detail in to the figures themselves. I never felt that the figures were cheap-looking or a bad representation of their actual characters, but now they seem to have an extra level of detail that will draw Disney collectors in like never before.

Play sets seem to work largely the same however it was hinted at that within limits, some characters could be used across play sets. This is through the use of Crossover Coins. It’s still limited to certain situations but wherever possible, characters can cross over into two play sets. This is something that wasn’t allowed at all within the original game so i’m extremely excited to see how this works. Skill trees are also more fleshed out and seem to add much more depth to the overall experience.

So far there are three play-sets announced. The Avengers play set comes with the game whilst the Guardians of the Galaxy and Spiderman can be purchased separately. I’m hopeful that there could be a non Marvel play set but it’s looking unlikely at this point.

Power discs return and make a much bigger impact on the game. Whilst ability and toy box discs are still around, power discs also unlock alternate costumes for characters. Side kicks make an appearance in the form of the side-kick power disc. John explained that whilst not everyones favourites may not appear as a figurine, it doesn’t mean that they’re not featured as a sidekick. They play into the game as a timed power-up with their own exclusive health bars.

The biggest new addition to the power disc collection are the Toy Box game discs. These are discs that unlock 1-2 hour mini-games within the toy box. I got the chance to go hands-on with a tower defence type game and i’m happy to report that it felt like an entirely different experience within the game.

Toy Box was without doubt the most exciting thing about Disney Infinity but many people felt like it was only catered towards a certain bunch of people. You really had to spend a lot of time building things from scratch. I’m happy to report that Avalanche have made it a lot more open and brought in ways to make creating more appealing to everyone.

The first big addition are townspeople. These are characters from various Disney shows that will start building various aspects of the Toy box for you. For instance, Eve from Wall-E builds trees and foliage around the place. There is another character that also builds race tracks. The cool thing about this is that they build around each other and essentially create a world that will be unlike the last.

Another addition are INTerior Toy Boxes. You’re able to populate these inside spaces with popular items from all over the Disney universe. You can also put doors all over the place which can link to a completely different space. It wasn’t clear exactly how far you could build this but John assured us that it could be quite expansive.

The player is also able to take control of the camera angle and add in-game text to essentially create a story (with online approval from a Disney moderator). This basically means that players are now able to create a game that doesn’t feel like it was something forced and incomplete.

Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes is available on September 18th for PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3 and 360. It has also been announced for Playstation Vita but we’d suspect that it will release at a later date. Whilst older figures and the base is compatible, players will be required to buy a new starter kit which will come with Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow. Also included will be the Avengers play set and two Toy Box mini game discs. There are whispers of a digital version being available for those who already have the base, but this hasn’t yet been detailed.

Founder and Managing Editor of PressStart. My first console was the NES and I grew a major love for gaming in the PS1 days, playing games such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Ape Escape and Medievil.